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Japan Live '94
''Japan Live '94'' (also known as ''Live in Japan'') is a live album and VHS by the American heavy metal band Savatage. The show that was recorded was held in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan on November 12, 1994 and was the last show on the short ''Handful of Rain'' tour. The show is noted for featuring Jon Oliva in a prominent role, his first since "leaving" the band in 1992. Oliva has an extended piano intro on "Gutter Ballet" and shares lead vocals with Zachary Stevens, making it his first performance as a lead vocalist with the band for two years. Oliva also performs rhythm guitar on "Hall of the Mountain King". The album was released in Japan in January 1995 by Zero Corporation and features a cover with singer Stevens wearing a T-shirt with a red and white circle and cross. In fact, Stevens wore a Corrosion of Conformity T-shirt at the concert, and it was likely "censored" due to label issues. Due to lack of time on the physical support, the entire show was not released onto CD. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Savatage
Savatage () was an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album ''Sirens'' (1983), they changed their name to Savatage, as Avatar was already taken by another band. Savatage is considered a significant member of the American heavy metal movement of the early-to-mid-1980s and has been cited as a key influence on many genres, such as power metal, progressive metal, speed metal, thrash metal, death metal and symphonic metal. Savatage has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, four compilations and three EPs. The band first reached substantial commercial success with its third studio album ''Fight for the Rock'' (1986), which peaked at number 158 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Its next four albums—'' Hall of the Mountain King'' (1987), ''Gutter Ballet'' (1989), '' Streets: A Rock Opera'' (1991) and ''Edge of Thorns'' (1993)—were als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corrosion Of Conformity
Corrosion of Conformity (also known as COC) is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina, formed in 1982. The band has undergone multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with guitarist Woody Weatherman as the sole constant member. Weatherman, founding bassist Mike Dean, founding drummer Reed Mullin, and vocalist and rhythm guitarist Pepper Keenan (who joined the band in 1989) are widely regarded as its 'classic' line-up. After a hiatus in 2006, Corrosion of Conformity returned in 2010 without Keenan, who had been busy touring and recording with Down, but announced their reunion with him in December 2014. The band started as a hardcore punk band but later moved towards a slower and blues-tinged heavy metal sound. To date, the band has released ten studio albums, four EPs, one compilation, and one live album. Their first three studio albums―'' Eye for an Eye'' (1984), ''Animosity'' (1985) and '' Blind'' (1991)―attracted the attention of Columbia R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeff Plate
Jeff Plate (born March 26, 1962) is an American professional hard rock/heavy metal drummer. He plays with the group Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He is best known as drummer for American heavy metal band Savatage on their albums since ''Japan Live '94'', and was also a member of Metal Church from 2006 to their break up in 2009 and again from their reunion in 2012 to 2017. Life and career Plate was born in Montour Falls, New York,Jeff's Savatage.com bio lists his place of birth as being Horseheads, New York. His official site however lists Montour Falls, New York. and grew up on a farm in Horseheads, New York. As a youth, he dreamed of becoming a pitcher for the New York Yankees, but this dream took a bad turn when his hip popped out of joint at the age of 12. On crutches for 4 months, he was advised to give up playing sports for two years so the hip could heal properly. After watching Kiss perform on The Midnight Special, he began taking drum lessons in school and privately. Jeff mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alex Skolnick
Alex Skolnick (born September 29, 1968) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist and one of the songwriters of the thrash metal band Testament and has played with several other bands, including The Alex Skolnick Trio, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Savatage and the heavy metal supergroup Metal Allegiance. Skolnick began his musical career at the age of 15 when he joined the local Bay Area thrash metal band Legacy, which eventually became Testament, and performed on five albums with them, between '' The Legacy'' (1987) and '' The Ritual'' (1992). By the time he left Testament in 1992, Skolnick had found considerable fame among the thrash metal and guitar communities; '' Guitar World'' magazine named him one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and as one of the "fastest guitarists of all time". After his first departure from Testament, Skolnick went on to pursue various musical careers, including briefly replacing Criss Oliva in Savatage for their album ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hall Of The Mountain King (album)
''Hall of the Mountain King'' is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band Savatage, released in 1987 under the direction of producer Paul O'Neill. It is their first album produced by O'Neill, who was assigned to the band after the tour in support of ''Fight for the Rock''. O'Neill's influence pushed Savatage to adopt a conceptual progressive metal style beginning with this album. "Prelude to Madness" is an arrangement of Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from the ''Peer Gynt'' suite. Oddly, Grieg is not credited for this song, but for the following title track - which is an original song. The intro of "Prelude to Madness" features keyboards and guitar playing "Mars, the Bringer of War" from Gustav Holst's suite, ''The Planets''. The song would be re-recorded by Trans-Siberian Orchestra in 2009 under the title of "The Mountain", appearing on that group's fifth studio album, ''Night Castle''. "This Is Where You Should Be", recorded during the studio sessi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gutter Ballet
''Gutter Ballet'' is the fifth full-length album produced by the American progressive metal band Savatage. This was the second album created under the direction of producer Paul O'Neill and was initially released in December 1, 1989. Overview This album was a true turning point for the band, as the sound transitioned from a heavy metal to experiment with a more progressive sound, which is reflected in songs such as "When the Crowds Are Gone" and "Gutter Ballet". During the final recording sessions while Criss was tracking guitar solos, Paul O'Neil gave Jon Oliva tickets to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ''The Phantom of the Opera'' on Broadway. Jon was so inspired that immediately following the performance, he went back to the studio and wrote the music for the title track. ''Gutter Ballet'' is not a concept album, but the final three songs ("Mentally Yours", "Summer's Rain", "Thorazine Shuffle") are a conceptual suite dealing with a single character as revealed by the band ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sirens (Savatage Album)
''Sirens'' is the debut album by American heavy metal band Savatage, released in 1983. The music on this album is heavier than in later Savatage albums, where the band developed their own style of progressive metal. According to frontman Jon Oliva, ''Sirens'' and the long EP ''The Dungeons Are Calling'' were recorded and mixed all in one day. With most of the songs prepared no more than a week before the recording session, the band could only afford one day in the studio. The two albums together were to make Savatage's debut but since vinyl records limited the total running time, they were divided. In 2011, they were remastered and released together on the label Earmusic. The cover of the English versions published by both Music for Nations and Combat Records in 1985 used the cover of the children's book '' The Borribles Go for Broke''. It was also used by Metal Blade Records for the first edition on CD and other subsequent versions. Track listing *The track "Out on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Rock Opera
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version can be written in two forms: the double-storey a and single-storey ɑ. The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type. In English grammar, " a", and its variant " an", are indefinite articles. History The earliest certain ancestor of "A" is aleph (also written 'aleph), the first letter of the Phoenician alphabet, which consisted entirely of consonants (for that reason, it is also called an abjad to distinguish it fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edge Of Thorns
''Edge of Thorns'' is the seventh album by American heavy metal band Savatage, released on April 6, 1993 on Atlantic Records. This is the last Savatage album to feature guitarist Criss Oliva, who died six months after its release, and their first release with Zachary Stevens on lead vocals, following the departure of Jon Oliva from his role as singer in Savatage, although he did produce and write songs for the album. The drums on this album sound different from other Savatage records, as Steve "Doc" Wacholz decided to use electronic drums. Although most of the drum kits sound authentic, a difference in the timbre of the toms can be heard. "All That I Bleed" and "Miles Away" were the last songs Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva and the producer Paul O'Neill wrote together. For that, they are still Jon Oliva's two favorites on the album. The woman in the picture of the album art is Dawn Oliva, Criss Oliva's wife. Gary Smith, who also did the front and back covers for '' Hall of the Mounta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Criss Oliva
Christopher Michael Oliva (April 3, 1963 – October 17, 1993) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and co-founder of the heavy metal band Savatage. During his lifetime, he released seven studio albums and one EP with the band. Biography Early life Oliva's family moved around the country during his childhood, stopping off in California before making Florida their home. It was in California that Oliva found music and considered it his calling, and he continued his musical interests when he moved to Florida. His main influences as a guitarist were Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi, Uli Jon Roth and Michael Schenker. He spent countless hours figuring out his favorite songs on records, and when he found it difficult to figure out a part on the record he just made up his own licks. This would later help him in his songwriting. Savatage Oliva and his brother Jon formed their first band together, Avatar, in 1978, from the ashes of their former bands Tower and Alien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Century Media
A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or centenary is a hundredth anniversary, or a celebration of this, typically the remembrance of an event which took place a hundred years earlier. Start and end of centuries Although a century can mean any arbitrary period of 100 years, there are two viewpoints on the nature of standard centuries. One is based on strict construction, while the other is based on popular perception. According to the strict construction, the 1st century AD began with AD 1 and ended with AD 100, the 2nd century spanning the years 101 to 200, with the same pattern continuing onward. In this model, the ''n''-th century starts with the year that ends with "01", and ends with the year that ends with "00"; for example, the 20th century comprises the years 1901 t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Lee Middleton
Johnny Lee Middleton (born May 7, 1963) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the bass guitar player for Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Musical beginnings Middleton was born in St. Petersburg, Florida. His first experience as a performing musician was as first-chair trumpet in the sixth-grade orchestra. The band director provided early encouragement. "I'd get free lessons from him, so I learned how to play the saxophone, the clarinet, [and] the oboe. He kind of gave me an ear for music." As a bass player, however, Middleton is largely self-taught. At age 14, he joined the high-school jazz band. With the bass rig behind him, he quickly discovered "the way the bass moves the earth" – and just as quickly realized "you could get more girls by playing bass instead of trumpet." He invested $35 in his first bass, locked himself in his bedroom with REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, and Black Sabbath records, and learned to play along. Among his influences, M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
